India would be the butt of jokes if it happened there: Athlete criticizes Japan’s Asian mess
Indian MMA fighter Varun Sanyal was not bored when describing the accommodation mess at the Asian Games in Nagoya. If the same situation happened in India, he believes the media backlash would be much bigger and global.
“If this happened in India, my God, the media would go crazy, not just in India but globally. We would be the target of a joke,” Varun said.
“If this happened in India, my God, the media would go crazy, not just in India but globally. We would be the butt of a joke.”
– Asian Games athlete and MMA fighter Varun Sanyal if the same situation were to arise in India pic.twitter.com/30JIjHtQN7— The Khel India (@TheKhelIndia) September 17, 2026
Varun spoke after facing a chaotic search for accommodation himself. Although he has a valid Asian Games ID, his name was not found in the accommodation system. He was sent between three different facilities before finally getting a room, only to find that two other Indian athletes were also given the same room.
“There’s a lot of chaos in terms of athlete rooms and room allocation. So of course, myself included, I’ve kind of been caught up in all of that and it’s still not resolved,” he said.
LOST IN THE SYSTEM
Varun said the trouble started when he reached the convention center on the way from the airport.
“Once you get there, it’s like total chaos because you see a lot of athletes everywhere. As you saw, people are lying around, sleeping, just waiting,” he said.
Despite having his Asian Games ID card, officials could not find his name when he went to register.
“So I go to the counter, I go to check in, I get my room number or accommodation details and they just can’t find my name anywhere in the system. It’s like I’m a complete ghost in the system,” he said.
Officials spent about two hours trying to fix the problem before sending him to the Costa Serena cruise ship where the athletes are staying.
By then about three hours had passed without a solution. On the cruise ship, Varun said officials were again unable to find his details and asked him to contact the Indian National Olympic Committee.
He was subsequently sent to another facility, adding more time to an already grueling journey.
NO FOOD WHILE WAITING
The long wait also left Varun without food.
“There was no food in any of these facilities. They would give you bottles of water, but there is no food and you can’t even go anywhere to buy anything,” he said.
“Yes, I know as an MMA fighter or maybe a wrestler, a boxer, etc., you lose weight, but you still need to eat. You still need some food.”
At the third facility, Varun said he met athletes from Tajikistan and Sri Lanka who are facing similar challenges.
“Everybody faces a similar problem. So this is gone, this has spread. So I’m like, what the hell is going on?”
SAME ROOM, THREE ATHLETES
Varun finally got a room at Costa Serena and thought the ordeal was over. It wasn’t. About 30 minutes after he fell asleep, he heard a commotion and found two Indian athletes above him.
“I just see two Indian athletes standing right above me, looking as confused as I am, and we’re just looking at each other, what’s going on here,” he said.
Both athletes were also assigned the same room.
“It showed in the system that they allotted me this room. But this room originally belonged to them,” said Varun.
The situation left the three of them unsure of what to do next.
“These two poor athletes are now in the same loop that I was in. I don’t know what’s going to happen either. They’re going to get fired. It might just bring me down again.”
“It’s just a mess. It’s just a mess.”
INDIANS HAVE PROBLEMS WITH PEACE
Varun’s experience comes amid wider concerns about accommodation at the Games.
Indian rowing, wushu and table tennis athletes have signed up for Costa Serena. A member of the Indian contingent told PTI that some rooms meant for two athletes were shared by three.
“Three players live in some rooms that are only meant for two athletes. The rooms are already small and one more athlete makes it even more uncomfortable. Athletes want to give their best for such a mega event, but they are facing it,” said a member of the contingent on condition of anonymity.
“But we don’t complain, we adapt to the situation. There are no problems when it comes to food.”
Two members of India’s rowing support staff are believed to have been left out after they could not be accommodated on the boat.
Several Indian rowers waited for more than 12 hours on Wednesday to get their rooms.
“We reached the cruise ship check-in area around 9am (Wednesday), then waited and waited and finally entered our rooms at almost midnight,” said one Indian athlete.
India’s Chef de Mission Sahdev Yadav acknowledged the problem.
“There was some mismanagement on their part (organisers) but we are addressing the issue. We are working on it,” he told PTI.
NO VILLAGE OF ATHLETES
The Aichi-Nagoya Games did not provide a traditional athletes’ village, with approximately 17,000 athletes and officials housed in various locations.
These include the Costa Serena in Nagoya Harbor, container-style wooden shacks and hotels in Aichi Prefecture. Some athletes competing in Tokyo also stay there.
This arrangement also created long travel times for the athletes during their preparations.
Indian rowers have to travel about 30 km from the cruise ship to the Nagaragawa International Regatta Course, a journey that takes more than an hour.
The table tennis players also have to travel about 30 km for training, while the Indian wushu team travels by bus for about 30 minutes to a martial arts hall in Aichi Prefecture, more than 10 km from the ship.
CONTAINER ROOMS CRITICIZED
Approximately 200 wooden container-style cabins are used to house approximately 2,000 athletes from sports including football, basketball, baseball, softball, jiu-jitsu and kurash.
The Indian kurash team is expected to stay there after arriving around September 24, with the competition starting on September 27.
“The Kurash team will stay there (container villas). They will reach here around September 24,” Deputy Chief of Mission Alaknanda Ashok told PTI.
South Korean officials have previously criticized container housing, describing the rooms as cramped.
However, Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games organizing committee president Hideaki Omura defended the temporary accommodation, saying it could serve as a model for financially sustainable sporting events.
With the opening ceremony just days away, securing accommodation remains a challenge as athletes prepare for the competition.
– The end
Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
17 Sep 2026 22:18 IST